This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application no. 205248/2000 filed on Jul. 6, 2000; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a coin type IC card reader/writer that performs processing to read data from and write data to a coin-shaped IC card known as a coin-type IC card.
2. Description of the Related Art
Coin-type IC cards have been in existence that are used instead of coins or play medals such as tokens and the like in game machines such as slot machines and the like, which are deposited inside the game machine to enable it to play. The coin-type IC card comprises an IC chip module for recording various kinds of data such as monetary data and performing computational processing thereon, and an antenna coil for supplying electric power to and inputting and outputting data to and from the IC chip without making contact with the IC card that is implanted in a disk-shaped (coin-shaped) body.
The game machine which uses such a coin-type IC card, is provided with a coin-type IC card reader/writer for performing processing to read data from and write data to the coin-type IC card, without making contact with the IC card.
Such a coin-type IC card reader/writer comprises at least an antenna coil for supplying electric power to and conducting data input and output to and from the coin-type IC card without making contact therewith, and a control unit for performing processing for reading data from and writing data to an IC chip module in the coin-type IC card.
In a game machine where such a coin-type IC card reader/writer is provided, when coin-type IC card is deposited and is rolling and passing along a guide path provided in the coin-type IC card reader/writer, monetary data previously stored inside the IC chip module in the coin-type IC card is accessed through the antenna coil thereof, and that monetary data is read out. Then, the read-out monetary data is compared with the monetary data required for the game. If the monetary data read out is larger than the monetary data required for the game, a signal to enable game execution is sent, the monetary data used for the game is subtracted from the monetary data read out, and processing is performed to write monetary data for the value resulting from the subtraction over the data in the IC chip module.
When the monetary data read out from the IC chip module in the coin-type IC card is compared to the monetary data required for the game and found that the monetary data read out is smaller than the monetary data required for the game, then the coin-type IC card is returned without executing the game and also without doing any processing to rewrite the existing monetary data.
In the conventional coin-type IC card reader/writer described above, the processing for reading data from and writing data to the coin-type IC card is performed while the coin-type IC card is being rolled and moved along inside the coin-type IC card guide path formed inside the coin-type IC card reader/writer, Therefore, there is a possibility that the processing to read data from and write data to the coin-type IC card will not be done in a definite manner, and that errors will occur in reading and writing data from and to the coin-type IC card. Further, there is also a possibility that problems will occur such that the coin-type IC card is returned without overwriting the existing monetary data in the way that that should be done.
In view of the situation described in the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a coin-type IC card reader/writer that is fashioned so that errors in reading and writing data from and to coin-type IC cards is reduced to the fullest extent possible.
In order to attain that object, in the coin-type IC card reader/writer of the present invention, coin-type IC card distributing means are provided for temporarily stopping the rolling of the coin-type IC card in the coin-type IC card guide path and causing processing to be performed to read and write data to and from the coin-type IC card while it is stopped, and also, based on the results of that processing, for distributing the coin-type IC card that was temporarily stopped to coin-type IC card guide paths different from the coin-type IC card guide path noted above.